GIRL'S NIGHT OUT........

Today my neice Jo & her daughter...came to see us. I met them at the Westin Hotel at 6:30. It's been 2 years since I saw them last. She had asked if this was a good time to visit and I told her that actually...this was the best time. Mr. T will get his bone marrow transplant on the 17th...where they will move us to an isolation room...and he won't be leaving that room till he is well....perhaps a month...maybe longer. That goes the same for me....I will be in isolation with him. If he is not well, I won't be leaving him alone. Right now he hasn't started the nasty chemo yet....he's eating & playing his games...so its the perfect time for company. Also when he enters that room...his immune system will be wiped clean from the chemo....and it won't be a good idea for me to have company & take a chance on bringing in any germs or colds.
I will have a room at the Westin Hotel till August 3rd....or until I can get a room at Ronald Mcdonald House up the street. There is a long waiting list at Ronald Mcdonald for a room there. They have 28 rooms and all of them are booked solid. Every day you have to call and let them know that you are still on the waiting list. If you don't call.....they will assume you made other arrangements.
You 'have' to have a room while you are here for the 3 months. After being here for a week...you do want to have a good nights sleep and shower...and you need a place to store your clothing and bathroom stuff.
Once Mr. T goes into an isolation room on the 17th...there will be no room for my stuff. That's one of the reasons why you need to have a room while you are here.
We slept at the Westin the 1st night we arrived in Toronto....and I stayed there with my neice & grand-neice when they arrived as well. Otherwise I stay with Mr. T in his room.

My neice took me to the 'Old Spaghetti Factory' to eat. We had wine and pasta...and I enjoyed every bit of it. It was so nice seeing her and her daughter again. I would post a pic...but I don't think she would appreciate it. We had a great time 'catching up'...a lot of laughs and girl talk. Later we walked for miles before calling it a night. At the Westin we ended up talking till we fell asleep.

Early Friday we had breakfast at Sick Kids...and visited Mr. T. My neice was allowed to visit him as I had her name on the visitor's list....but her daughter wasn't allowed on the unit. Mr. T was allowed to go and see his cousin though in the Parents Lounge at the end of the hall. They just don't want kids on the unit itself. He really enjoyed their visit...he didn't want the visit to end. My neice went and bought him a double whopper at Burger King....and we talked & laughed for awhile. Mr. T was in a great mood...and happy to get company.
Later when Mr. T was playing his games on the computer....we walked over to the Eaton Centre. My grand-neice is 13 (going on 16) so she had some serious shopping to do. She had saved up her baby-sitting money and needed summer clothes. Right across from the Eaton Center is a store called 'Forever 21' ...great clothes at cheap prices. The store was packed with teenage girls.
I bought a dress and a skirt for my granddaughter....and my grand-neice bought herself some very nice clothes. She has great taste for her age.
Later we stopped at Mr. Green Jeans to eat. I had to try the 'edamame' appetizer. Hot soybeans with seasalt...and then had a sirloin burger. Great food. I remember going there 16 yrs ago.
My neice gave me a $100 gift certificate to Chapters....and it didn't take me long to spend it. I bought 4 books of Jodi Picoult's that I haven't read yet. Once you read one of her books...you are hooked. I bought Mr. T some art books and my neice got him sketching pencils, sketch books and erasors at Currys art store on Yonge street. We must have walked for miles and miles that day...and we all have blisters to prove it.
We went back to Sick Kids and spent more time with Mr. T and gave him the gifts we bought. He likes to sketch his gaming hero's as well as Manga characters...and now is the time for it while he sits in isolation.
Later we went back to the Westin to drop off our things....and then decided to enjoy the night life. Again we walked for miles....and we ate at the International Food Festival & visited all the vendor booths there. Next time I'll wear my sneakers. Although it was quite late...there were crowds of people everywhere. Toronto is a tourist mecca.....there is so much going on all the time...we saw mime's, and street musicians all over...vendor's and food at every corner. I'm sure we burned off everything we ate and more.
But what a great time I had....I haven't had a girls night out in ages. I was sorry to see my neice & grandneice leave the next day...but I know I'll be seeing them again soon. My granddaughter will be going to stay with my neice Jo next weekend. She'll be staying with them for 6 weeks...going to daycamp with her cousin...and enjoying her summer. My neice will also bring the girls to see me & Mr. T every 2nd or 3rd week...as she only lives an hour away. There will be more 'Girl's nights out' coming up. I hear the Caribana is coming to town early August and I hope I get to see it....people come from all over the world for the Caribana parade.
Everything depends on the success of Mr. T's bone marrow transplant. Let's hope he sails smoothly through this ordeal with little or no complications. Then we'll have something to celebrate!